The N.C. General Assembly created the state's Public
Transportation Division in 1974 to foster the development of intercity, urban
and community public transportation for all those who live and work in North
Carolina.
The N.C. Department of Transportation's last
public transportation strategic plan was the Transit 2001 Commission report,
dated January 1997, that stated:
"Transportation alternatives are essential to
our future. The issue is not highways or transit. We must have a transportation
system which embraces various modes and alternatives if we are to move goods
and people safely and conveniently."
In response to the Transit 2001 Commission's
recommendations, the state and local governments made capital and operating
investments that established transit systems in North Carolina's 100 counties.
This led to North Carolina's urban transit ridership becoming the fastest
growing in the Southeast.